Taiba Sultana launches write-in campaign after being removed from 18th Senate District ballot

Taiba Sultana, a former Easton City Council member, launched a write-in campaign Tuesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on April 9 upheld her removal from the May 19 Democratic primary ballot for the 18th Senate District.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the decision on April 9, upholding an April 1 Commonwealth Court ruling that found Sultana’s nomination petition contained a material defect.

The case centered on her listing of “self-employed” as her occupation without further detail, which the court determined could mislead voters under Pennsylvania election law. Her name will not appear on the primary ballot.

The challenge to Sultana’s candidacy was filed by four registered Democratic voters and upheld in court. 

Sultana said she is continuing her campaign as a write-in candidate to ensure voters still have a choice in the race.

“When people understand they can still vote, it changes that conversation,” Sultana said. 

As a write-in candidate, Sultana’s campaign requires voters to manually write her name on the ballot and fill in the corresponding bubble for the vote to be counted. Write-in votes must be clearly written in the designated space and properly marked to be valid, according to the Northampton County Election Office. 

Running as a write-in candidate requires voters to take additional steps beyond selecting a candidate on the ballot. Sultana said a major focus of her campaign is now educating voters on how to correctly cast a write-in vote. 

Sultana had been challenging longtime incumbent Lisa Boscola, who has represented the district since 1998. Without a write-in campaign, Boscola would run unopposed in the Democratic primary.  

Sultana said her campaign remains focused on affordability issues across the Lehigh Valley, including rising housing costs, stagnant wages and financial strain on seniors. 

“I hear from people that they are struggling to survive,” Sultana said. “Seniors are being pushed out of their own communities where they are born and raised. Working families and small businesses are under pressure. They were looking for another choice.”

She said homelessness and housing access are major concerns, arguing that policy responses have focused more on clearing encampments than addressing underlying causes.

“We are cleaning up homeless encampments, but at the same time, there is no alternative,” Sultana said. “There’s no affordable housing. We need to make sure people do have affordable housing.” 

Her platform includes raising the minimum wage, expanding access to health care, providing property tax relief for seniors and advancing housing affordability measures.

Sultana has framed her campaign as a critique of how elections are decided, arguing that the focus should be on voters rather than legal challenges. 

“This election should not be about technicalities,” Sultana said. “It should be about what people are going through.”

Sultana said she is now focused on continuing her campaign outside the traditional ballot process.

“It’s never about me or politics, it’s about people,” Sultana said. “I want to make sure people know there is another choice. If people want change, they can still vote. They still have a voice.”